Al-Qaida's No 2 urges Pakistan uprising

A TAPE purportedly recorded by Ayman al-Zawahri, the No 2 in the al-Qaida terror group, called Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf a traitor yesterday and urged people to get rid of his government.

The audiotape was broadcast by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.

The speaker, who sounded like al-Zawahri, also called for a military uprising in Pakistan.

"Musharraf seeks to stab the Islamic resistance in Afghanistan in the back," the speaker said.

"Every Muslim in Pakistan should work hard to get rid of this agent government, which will continue to submit to America until it destroys Pakistan."

The tape comes as Pakistani troops are in the second week of a campaign along the Afghan border in South Waziristan, a longtime hiding place and stronghold of Islamic militants from al-Qaida, Afghanistan's Taliban and their Pakistani supporters.

After Musharraf spoke hopefully of capturing a "high-value target", there was speculation that al-Zawahri might be in the rugged border area where local tribes have more power than the Pakistani federal government.

The speaker appeared to be referring to the conflict in South Waziristan when he said, "I call on the Pakistani army: you, poor army, what a miserable state Musharraf has put you in ... Musharraf ruins your natural fences those tribes on the border by engaging you in a fight with them. Then he removes your nuclear weapons. Will you stay silent until Pakistan is divided again?"

Meanwhile, more than 50 terrorists have been killed in Pakistan's largest military operation yet against the suspected al-Qaida fighters in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, the interior minister said.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat vowed the operation in South Waziristan, which began 10 days ago, would continue until the "complete elimination" of terrorists holed up there.

"Over 20 terrorists have been killed in the operation so far and it is expected that 30 to 35 more dead bodies of terrorists will be recovered," Hayyat said. He did not identify the terrorists or say whether they were foreigners or local tribesmen.

Opposition MPs chanted slogans and staged a walkout to protest the operation, the largest since Pakistan threw its support behind the US-led war on terrorism in late 2001.

MPs protested the government had not "taken Parliament into confidence" over the operation.